Redfern to Chatswood railway line

Redfern to Chatswood Rail Link
Mode Commuter rail
cancelled
Owner Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation
Key dates
2005 Line announced
2006 Corridors identified
2008 Project cancelled and partly superseded by the North West Metro
2008 North West Metro changed to CBD Metro
2010 CBD Metro cancelled and CBD Relief Line proposed instead
For the current proposal by the Baird Government, see Sydney Harbour Rail Tunnel.

The Redfern to Chatswood Rail Link (RCRL) was a component of the now-cancelled Metropolitan Rail Expansion Programme (MREP) in Sydney, Australia. First announced in 2005, the line was to have started at Redfern Station, travelled under the city centre, crossed under Sydney Harbour, passed through the lower North Shore and ended at the existing Chatswood railway station. It was to have provided the centre section of a planned North West-CBD-South West rail arc connecting major areas of employment with the CBD and airport.

Alternative names for the planned route have included the "Redfern to Chatswood Harbour Rail Link", "MetroPitt" and the "CBD Rail Link". In March 2008 the State Government announced that the line would be cancelled, its role to be partly superseded by future metro rail lines.[1] In 2010 the CBD Relief Line & Western Express concept was announced. This is largely a return to the CBD Rail Link proposal, but uses a different alignment and links to different lines.

History

Protected corridors for the Metropolitan Rail Expansion Programme CBD Rail Link

The proposal was announced by Premier Bob Carr on 15 June 2005 (shortly before his resignation), and formed part of the $8 billion Metropolitan Rail Expansion Project (MREP). The MREP consisted of the New South Wales government's $8 billion North West - CBD - South West line, including the North West Rail Link (to extend from Cheltenham to Rouse Hill), and the spur to Leppington in Sydney's South West. The six kilometre RCRL was slated to cost $5 billion, and was to include duplicated tracks on the North Shore line between St Leonards and Chatswood. It was to provide a second railway line transversing Sydney Harbour to ease congestion at Town Hall and Wynyard stations, both considerably crowded and unable to be easily expanded, and to reduce travel times between the city and the lower North Shore.

The government's previous plan of constructing an additional CBD underground line was known as MetroWest. It was to have run from Haymarket in the city's Chinatown precinct near Darling Harbour, along the western edge of the city under Sussex or Kent Street and either ended at Wynyard station or continued over the harbour 'strapped' to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This option would not have served the part of the city experiencing the fastest growth of employment, and would have necessitated the destruction of eight office buildings. A previous MetroPitt proposal, travelling further east (and under its namesake Pitt Street) and through the financial district, could also be built deeper underground, limiting the impact on existing infrastructure.

In 2006, both of these corridors were protected with planning buffers to allow the option of future construction.[2] Developers who want to excavate deeper than two metres within a 25-metre buffer zone of the corridors need to seek RailCorp's approval.[3]

In 2013, a new proposal was raised to extend the North West Rail Link, by building a metro-style tunnel from just south of Chatswood Station via St Leonards and North Sydney and under the Sydney Harbour towards Central and Redfern, before joining the newly converted metro lines towards Hurstville, Bankstown and Liverpool.[4] This largely renews the previous proposal for the RCRL, except with metro-style trains instead.

Proposed stations

In the plan the stations along the RCRL would have included:[5]

A map[6] of the protected corridors suggested there may have been the potential for another station at Macquarie Place, between The Rocks and Castlereagh Street.

Notes

  1. ↑ Besser L and Smith A. City catches fast-tracked metro. Sydney Morning Herald, 19 March 2008.
  2. ↑ "Iemma Government locks in future city rail corridors". Sydney Metropolitan Strategy. NSW Government - Department of Planning. 18 February 2006. Archived from the original on 11 November 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2007.
  3. ↑ "Rail routes sealed off". Hill Shire Times. 20 February 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2007.
  4. ↑ Clennell, Andrew (6 December 2013). "Second Sydney Harbour crossing to follow North West Rail". The Telegraph News. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  5. ↑ "Revealed: the harbour tunnel to ease rail crisis". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 June 2005. Retrieved 24 January 2007.
  6. ↑ "Protected CBD Rail Corridors Map" (PDF). Sydney Metropolitan Strategy. NSW Government - Department of Planning. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 December 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2007.

See also

External links